Record: 2-1-0
The Capitals, for a change, did not have a one-goal decision
in Week 20. When they beat the Los
Angeles Kings, 6-4, to open the week, it broke a string of five straight
one-goal decisions (3-1-1), two of which were settled in overtime. That win over the Kings wrapped up a
successful home stand for the Caps, who finished their longest home stand of
the season with a 4-1-1 record. That
start to the home schedule in February was a far cry from the struggles on home ice
in January, in which the Caps were just 1-2-2 at Capital One Arena.
Following the win over the Kings, the Caps took to the road
for their longest stretch away from Capital One Arena for the season – six
games. The first two games of that trip
wrapped up Week 20, and two more different games in succession would be hard to
find this season. A listless 3-0 loss to
the Columbus Blue Jackets might not have been surprising, the team’s third game
in four nights, but it was disappointing.
The Caps rebounded with arguably their best game of the season,
considering the opponent, the venue, and the circumstances. They defeated a San Jose Sharks team that has
given the Caps fits over the years, especially in San Jose, and was on a
six-game winning streak, to boot. The
5-1 win left the Sharks with only their second instance of scoring one goal on
home ice this season and left the Caps with a 15-10-2 road record, fifth-best among
Metropolitan Division teams. This is of
particular importance to the Caps, who will play 14 of their remaining 24 games
on the road to close the regular season.
Offense: 3.67/game (season: 3.34/7th)
It was a productive week in the offensive end for the
Capitals, where the team expressed most that recent “all or nothing”
quality. The Caps scored four or more
goals in each of the week’s three games, and that brought to 11 the number of
consecutive games in which the Caps scored three or more (eight), or one or
fewer goals (three, including being shut out twice).
When the Caps recorded 31 shots on goal against Los Angeles
to open the week, it was the fourth straight game in which they posted 30 or
more shots on goal, tying their season high set on two other occasions, and the
ninth time in ten games that they did so.
That streak came to an abrupt end when Columbus shut out the Caps on 20
shots in taking a 3-0 decision in the middle game of the week. That the Caps fell one shot short of 30
against San Jose to close the week was perhaps more a function of taking a
three-goal lead into the third period of what would end as a 5-1 decision. The Caps had only five third period shots in
that game, the last a goal into an empty net.
The Caps spread their goal scoring around, four players
finishing the three-game week with two goals apiece (Jakub Vrana, Evgeny
Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie, and Alex Ovechkin).
Vrana had both game-winners in Week 20, tying Oshie and Nicklas
Backstrom for the team lead this season (four).
Kuznetsov, Oshie, and Ovechkin led the team in points for the week, each
of them going 2-3-5. Kuznetsov, who had
a four-point tame against Los Angeles to open the week, has been on a tear of
late, going 7-9-16, plus-6, over his last ten games.
What the Caps did not get was scoring out of the fourth
line. Nic Dowd, Devante Smith-Pelly,
Chandler Stephenson, and Dmitrij Jaskin went the week without recording a
point.
Defense: 2.67/game (season: 3.16/T-21st)
The best that might be said of the Caps on the defensive
side of the puck is that they improved over the course of the week. In the first game of the week against the
Kings, one might have expected little spark from Los Angeles, a team that went
into the contest with the league’s 30th ranked scoring
offense. However, the Kings were finding
the net with some more consistency in road games leading up to their contest in
Washington. They went into that game having
scored three of more goals in four straight games on the road and extended that
streak to five games when they scored four against the Caps. What was worse for the Caps, though, was going minus-17 in
shot attempts-for at 5-on-5 (39 for, 56 against), their fourth-worst
performance on home ice this season and worst since late November.
The Caps were better against Columbus, which is not to say
“good.” Washington was still in minus
double-digits in 5-on-5 shot attempts, going minus-11 against the Blue Jackets
(28 for, 39 against). On a percentage basis,
they were barely better against Columbus (41.79) than they were against Los
Angeles (41.05). Even against San Jose
to close the week the Caps were under water (minus-8/45.74 percent), but this
is an area where the Caps have struggled on the road. They are over 50 percent in shot attempts-for
at 5-on-5 only once in their last six road games and only 11 times in 27 road
contests this season.
Goaltending: 2.37 / .922 (season: 3.00 / .906 / 3 shutouts)
The good overall numbers for the week mask something of an
emerging concern in goal. Pheonix Copley
opened the week in goal for the Caps and allowed four goals on 33 shots in
earning a win. It was the sixth-straight
start in which he allowed three of more goals, and in his last five starts he
has a save percentage of .863. Since
January 14th, when that five-game slump started, his save percentage
is second worst among the 41 goalies logging at least 250 minutes.
On the other hand, Braden Holtby had a fine week, stopping
54 of the 57 shots he faced over two games (.947). What stood out was his consistency. He allowed only one first period, one second
period, and one third period goal for the week and had a save percentage over
.950 in first (.952) and second periods (.957) for the week. And, where Copley has struggled over the last
five games, Holtby has come on. Over his
last five games, Holtby has 148 saves on 158 shots faced. His .931 save percentage over those five
games (Games 37-41 on his record this season) is his best five-game save
percentage since he also had a .931 save percentage over Games 22-26 on his
record this season. That .931 save
percentage is 11th among the 40 goalies with at least 150 minutes
played since that run started for Holtby (February 3rd).
Power Play: 2-for-9/22.2 percent (season: 21.1 percent/21st)
If you are not getting a lot of chances, you had better be
efficient with the ones you do get. That
was the case for the Caps in Week 20 generally, but in the particulars it was a
more interesting week. Twice the Caps
had four man advantages, against Los Angeles and San Jose, and in each they
recorded a power play goal. Those were
the 19th and 20th instances this season in which the Caps
had four or more power play chances, and in 14 of those games the Caps recorded
at least one power play goal.
Conversely, in the 38 games in which the Caps had fewer than four power
play chances, they have 15 games in which they recorded at least one power play
goal.
The game against Los Angeles featured an especially dominant
power play in two respects. First, the
Caps poured 11 shots on goal in only 6:57 of power play ice time. Second, Alex Ovechkin recorded more power
play shots on goal (six) than the rest of his teammates combined in that game
(five). Not surprisingly, the Caps could
not sustain that level of shot intensity, scoring one goal on six shots in 7:39
of power play ice time. Nevertheless, it
was a good week for the man advantage, posting a 20-plus percent power play and
1.16 shots on goal per minute of power play time.
Penalty Killing: 7-for-8/87.5 percent (season: 78.7 percent/22nd)
The Caps were good on the other side of special teams, both
in limiting chances and in penalty killing efficiency. The eight shorthanded situations faced is the
lowest number faced by the Caps in a week of three or more games this
season. It is also the third straight
week in which the Caps did not allow more than one power play goal for the
week, going 19-for-21 in that span (90.5 percent).
In its particulars, the week on the penalty kill resembled
the week on the power play, only in negative, in that a low volume of power
play shots on goal faced to begin and end the week sandwiched around a game in
which the Caps found themselves facing a higher shot volume. Washington faced three shorthanded situations
against Los Angeles, killing off two, and faced only one against San Jose,
skating that off with no harm done.
Washington faced only two shots on goal in those two games (both by Los
Angeles) in 6:24 of penalty killing ice time.
In the middle game, though, the Caps fended off six Columbus power play
shots on goal (no goal scored) in 7:28 of penalty killing ice time in skating
off four Blue Jacket power plays.
Overall, it was a good week in limiting the three opponents to 0.58
shots on goal per power play minute.
Faceoffs:
It was a typical week in the circle for the Caps, which is
to say, “poor.” That might be a bit
harsh, but only a bit. The Caps won the
faceoff battle in all three zones in their win over the Kings to start the week
but did not win a zone in either end the rest of the week. The Caps were particularly unsuccessful
against Columbus in the middle game of the week, losing all three zones handily
on their way to an 18-for-51 performance (35.3 percent). They did win nine of 16 draws in the neutral
zone against San Jose in the final game of the week to salvage something.
Individually, the Caps were all over the place. Nic Dowd was the only Capital taking at least
ten draws to top 50 percent for the week, but barely (7-for-13). Nicklas Backstrom might have joined him, but
he was frustrated into a 7-for-18 performance against San Jose. Lars Eller managed only 40 percent for the
week, largely on the basis of a dreadful 3-for-18 performance against
Columbus.
That the Caps finished at 46 percent for the week is a bit
misleading. They were under that number
in the ends and were especially unsuccessful in the offensive end, where they
finished at 43 percent. The odd part of
that was that the oft-struggling Evgeny Kuznetsov won half of his 14 offensive
draws for the week.
Goals by Period:
Getting off to good starts was key in Week 20. Twice the Caps scored a pair of goals in the
first period, and twice they finished with wins. Shut out in the first period of the middle
game of the week, and they were frustrated henceforth in that game against
Columbus. The Caps managed to keep their
foot on the pedal in the two wins, outscoring both the Kings and the Sharks in
the second periods of their games. The
key to the week, though, might have been not succumbing to sluggishness in the
third periods of games. While they did
allow two goals to the Blue Jackets in the third period of the middle game of
the week, both came late, the latter into an empty net. The Caps allowed Los Angeles a third period
goal but not the equalizer and finished with a two-goal win. They shut out the Sharks in the third period
of the last game of the week, a team that finished the week with the seventh-highest
total of third period goals in the league.
Year-over-Year:
As the Caps approach the 60-game mark of the regular season,
this season still looks a lot like last year in a lot of ways. Through 58 games, the difference in their
record is one fewer win and one more regulation loss. Their goal differential of plus-11 is up over
last year (plus-6), but so are the total goals scored (377 between the Caps and
opponents this season and 352 last season).
Special teams are barely distinguishable from year to year, be it goals
scored or allowed, chances, and efficiency.
At a more granular level, 5-on-5 shot attempts this season are almost
where they were last year.
It is in the “grittership” numbers where most of the
differences reside, and the results there are mixed. Blocked shots and takeaways are up, a good
thing. But giveaways are up, too, and
faceoffs are down, both being negatives.
That the Caps have 52 fewer penalty minutes this season over last is
almost entirely a product of Tom Wilson’s suspension to start this season. He has 77 minutes through 58 games this
season (having played in 39 games), while he had 145 minutes through 58 games
last season, 68 more than he has at the same point this season.
In the end…
Week 20 was a good week on balance. It was disappointing to come short in the
manner the Caps did against Columbus, a game in which they never seemed to have
much energy. But taking care of business
against a struggling opponent in the Kings and coming up big in a tough setting
against the Sharks have to be viewed as positives. It was the kind of week that the Caps could
use as a momentum-builder. They will
need it. The Caps play 11 of their next
15 games on the road, and that will provide quite a challenge for a team trying
to overtake the New York Islanders for the top spot in the Metropolitan
Division.
Three Stars:
- First Star: T.J. Oshie (2-1-3, plus-2, 500th NHL point, third multi-goal game of the season, five hits)
- Second Star: Jakub Vrana (2-1-3, plus-2, two game-winning goals)
- Third Star: Braden Holtby (1-1-0, 1.53, .947)
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